page_title: Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg
section_title: Marriage
hierarchical_section_title: Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg / Marriage
caption_attribution_description: Prinz Eitel Friedrich von Hohenzollern und seine Braut Herzogin Sophie Charlotte (Photomontage)
context_page_description: Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg was a member of the House of Holstein-Gottorp. She was the only surviving child of Frederick Augustus II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg by his first wife Princess Elisabeth Anna of Prussia.
  Sophia Charlotte is best known for her unhappy and well-publicized marriage to Prince Eitel Friedrich, second son of Wilhelm II, German Emperor. The marriage later led to divorce; Sophia Charlotte would remarry a few years later to Harald van Hedemann, a former police officer.
context_section_description: On 27 February 1906, Sophia Charlotte married Prince Eitel in Berlin. The wedding fell on the anniversary of the Emperor and Empress's silver wedding, which amplified the event considerably. The wedding had 1,500 guests, which included many members of Germany's royal families. Sophia Charlotte wore a four-yard long dress that was made of pearl white silk and embroidered with silver roses. The wedding had three ceremonies - the signing of the marriage contract under the statutes of the House of Hohenzollern on the first day, the administering of the civil law oaths on the second, and lastly the religious rites in the chapel of the castle later that day. She was warmly welcomed in Berlin.
  They had an unhappy marriage. Despite her warm Berlin welcome, Sophia Charlotte failed to make friends there. Eitel was also continually unfaithful. One source states that upon realizing what type of person she had married, Sophia Charlotte "withdrew into a kind of haughty reserve, from which she never emerged". They rarely saw each other during his time fighting in World War I. It was a lonely time for Sophia Charlotte, and she resided mostly in Bellevue Castle in Berlin, where she spent her time mainly reading, painting, and socializing with a small number of friends.
caption: Sophia Charlotte with her first husband Prince Eitel Friedrich, 1910
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